Events continue to make 'Splash' During Fayetteville Arts Festival weekend
Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008
It could be described as the actor's nightmare, said local playwright Bob Ford.
There they are, standing onstage, unrehearsed and unprepared, an audience waiting for them to deliver lines.
It's almost exactly the situation that will be created for the actors who participate in the inaugural Splash Theatre, which will take place during the Fayetteville Arts Festival. The performance will begin around 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7 while results of the 24-Hour Play Festival are being tabulated.
Although the actors involved in the event will know the material, they will have not had the chance to rehearse. The actors will not know their acting partner until the curtain is drawn for the performance.
"This is really much more about the excitement of watching a couple of really good actors skip the rehearsal process,"Ford said.
Two scripts will be debuted during the performance: a 10-minute play by Ford and another by Mark Landon Smith. Both are accomplished in the craft, as Ford is the resident playwright for local troupe TheatreSquared and Smith is a nationally published author known for the "Dupont, Mississippi"series, among other works.
Smith, co-founder of Ceramic Cow Productions, said the concept for Splash Theatre is popular on the East Coast. It is an emerging trend among theater companies, he said.
As in larger theater markets,the plays to be presented in Northwest Arkansas are diverse. Smith's work is a comedy. Ford's a drama, although there are a few comedic elements, the playwright said.
"The term Splash Theatre doesn't dictate the genre,"Smith said.
Splash Theatre is just one of many of the events taking place during the Fayetteville Arts Festival, which begins today and concludes Sept. 7. For a full schedule, see Page 24.
Here are a few other highlights from the many events that will be taking place the next two weekends:
- Local sculptor Hank Kaminsky will display a plaster casting of his design for a new work to be installed at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks as a memorial to children who have died. He is accepting tax-deductible donations for the project.
- The Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., will host an art discussion featuring Eureka Springs artist Robert Glick from 5:30-8 p.m. today. Glick's work, which features mixed media techniques and often abstract manors, will be displayed in the library's Media & Magazine section through Oct. 6.
- New art space Four Square Fine Arts Gallery will open today. The new facility, located at 112 W. Center St. in Fayetteville, will have an opening reception from 5-8 p.m. to honor the five artists on the walls.
- The Heartwood Gallery, 428 S. Government Ave., will have a one-day celebration from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Featured will be artist booths, art demonstrations and live music.
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